Today I was given a master class in client management.

I went to meet a client of ours who was not happy with the final quality of the creative output of our work. They had called the meeting as they were thinking of ending the project and cutting their losses.

By the end of the meeting not only were they happy, they had renewed confidence in our abilities and were happy for project to continue. How did this happen? The reason it happened is that I had a secret weapon in the meeting. I was joined by one of my directors at Busara, Pier Bracher who is a master of client management.

I did not say that much in the meeting and watched as Piers led the client through a journey:

Work out if the relationship is still salvageable

If the client does not want to at least try to work things out then is it is a very short meeting, there is no point in talking and the meeting is over. It is then time to send the lawyers in. But on the other hand if they do want to work together that is the first step and this creates some common ground to work on.

Where was the breakdown in the project?

Next you need to find out what the root problem of the relationship breakdown was. This is done by asking lots of questions and really listening to what the client has to say. Try and read between the lines, we were lucky the client was very upfront about the issue; there had been a misunderstanding when it came to the brief and all the issues stemmed from there.

Do not assign blame or dwell on the problems

Now that you know what the issue is, do not assign blame, do not dwell on the problems. It is all about rebuilding trust and convincing the cleint that you can deliver. Trying to assign blame does not help anyone and will only hurt the relationship further. In most situations there is probably fault on both sides but that is not what you need to focus on.

Accept responsibility and create confidence that you can deliver

You need to accept responsibility for the problem and create confidence that you can deliver. Now you know what the problem is you need to work hard to convince the client that you can solve it and exceed their expectations.

Focus on the plan and what is going to happen next

Explain in detail the plan forward, really sell the new plan and give hard deadlines on when things will be done. It is important to fix thing quickly and get back on track. By explaining the plan you are showing evidence that you can deliver. Reiterate where there is agreement and summarise regularly.

Deliver on your promises and over service

The final thing is the most important, you now need to deliver on your promises and over service along the way. If you can do that you have a very good chance of turning a bad situation into a good one.

Quite honestly there were times in the meeting where I had to bite my tongue as the natural thing to do is fight your corner and play the blame game but that does not help anyone.

The key is for you to rebuild confidence in your ability and show conviction that you can deliver on the brief. If you can continue to work together and turn the situation around you can often increase your standing in the client’s mind.